The invention relates to a method for repair and reinforcing pavement, and more particularly, to such methods utilizing a reinforced elastomer.
Roadways are subject to severe stresses mostly due to a heavy volume of traffic and adverse weather conditions. Often such stresses cause the materials in the roadway to fail resulting in the formation of cracks and potholes in the pavement. Such damage is expensive and time-consuming to repair.
In the repair of such damage it has been the practice to fill potholes and the like with asphalt. This filling does remedy the irregularity in the road surface for a short period of time but is ineffective in providing long term repair. A desirable property of any pavement system is that it is unitary and when shifting in the roadbed occurs, the entire pavement moves rather than portions thereof which cause reflective cracking.
Workers in the art have endeavored to repair potholes by filling the potholes with reinforced materials. However, the objective has been to provide a reinforced fill rather than a repair which returns the pavement to its integral form.
One method for strengthening the roadbed during repair is to reinforce the pavement with either woven or nonwoven textile products embedded in an elastomer. Such textile products may be formed of glass fibers as in Marzocchi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,362,780 and Jacobs, U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,024, tire stock as in Wescott, U.S. Pat. No. 1,645,635 and Butler, U.S. Pat. No. 1,661,407, fibrous material reclaimed from tire carcasses as in DeWhirst, U.S. Pat. No. 2,126,948, and Butler, U.S. Pat. No. 1,661,407, synthetic or natural fibers as in Jacobs, U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,025 and Draper et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,474,625, or metal wire, strips or screens as in Leguillon, U.S. Pat. No. 2,184,146, Mart, U.S. Pat. No. 1,505,272 and Rigdon, U.S. Pat. No. 1,444,274. However, the textiles used in such products are used to reinforce the elastomer and not to connect adjacent portions of damaged pavement to return the pavement to its original integral form.
In accordance with the present invention, a reinforcing membrane for road paving repair is provided with high tensile strength which is effectively transferred to the road surface to resist reflective cracking.
Further, in accordance with the invention, an improved pothole repair method is provided.
Still further in accordance with the present invention, a paved surface is provided which gives improved expected life to paved roads due to its ability to resist potholes and cracking from stresses of the roadbed.
Still further in accordance with the invention, a waterproof membrane is provided which seals pavement cracks to retard failure of the paving.